No, since they are in fact Olympics medalist and for almost all they gave it their best efforts in order to get their medals but it seems like a lot of people want the medals to be quantified as "team medals" so that it will be clearer.

And my viewpoint may also be due to the fact that since I'm a new figure skating fan, the team event at the Olympics didn't take getting used to.

It makes me double take when I read things like "Skater X, Olympic Gold/Silver/Bronze Medalist", and then I remember it was in the team event, and a Tourette's style voice in my head says "not a proper medalist"

I am fine with it; I think what bothers some fans is that some of the skaters who received medals (eg: Kevin Reynolds, Castelli and Schnapir) had no shot whatsoever at individual medals, so they believe there should be a "qualifier." I don't - they did their teams proud with their performances (well, most of them) and they are Olympic Medalists, period.

It makes me double take when I read things like "Skater X, Olympic Gold/Silver/Bronze Medalist", and then I remember it was in the team event, and a Tourette's style voice in my head says "not a proper medalist"

It makes me double take when I read things like "Skater X, Olympic Gold/Silver/Bronze Medalist", and then I remember it was in the team event, and a Tourette's style voice in my head says "not a proper medalist"

Click to expand...

Yeah, but it will take some getting used to. If it's an oly event, the'yre oly medalists.

I have been able to be in denial because I thought the team event was ill conceived, I disagreed with it being first (and still think it should come after the individual events) and becuase i was on holiday for the Olympics and didn't watch them I can totally ignore that the team event happened at all.

Is the team event here to stay? If it is then why don't they have it at worlds as well? It seems ridiculous to have a made up event for the Olympics that doesn't form any part of the figure skating season at any other time. For as long as it doesn't appear at the world championships, I won't view the team event at the Olympics as a "real" event.

Of course there's no denying a medal won at the Olympcis is just that...but I don't have to buy into it

As valid and well-earned as it is, I find it disingenuous how some people act as if it's worth the same as an individual medal. It's unfair to not only older skaters but current great skaters from countries without strong skating teams.

That sure is wordy. If an announcer says 2014 Olympic Gold Medalist Julia Lipnitskaya; the statement is completely accurate. Nothing about that says she won the ladies figure skating event.

Click to expand...

But that's not the issue and I feel like you're skirting the real issue based on a technicality. Introducing her as an Olympic gold medalist without clarifying that it's a team medal is misleading to general audiences and new followers of the sport.

If someone wins in a swimming relay, I'm pretty sure they say oly gold medalist in the 400 meter relay. They might not do that for someone like Michael Phelps when they say 8 time Oly gold medalist but that is because his individual achievements trump the need to do so.

If someone wins in a swimming relay, I'm pretty sure they say oly gold medalist in the 400 meter relay. They might not do that for someone like Michael Phelps when they say 8 time Oly gold medalist but that is because his individual achievements trump the need to do so.

Click to expand...

Or sometimes they are just announced as "Olympic Gold Medalist" with no further qualifier if the discussion is not about the event.

Check out this bio:https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/archivedbios/s/kstrug.pdf
Kerri Strug has no individual Olympic medals. The expansive bio mentions the team event Gold, but the awards listed at the top of the page don't qualify it at all; and alot of people are not going to bother reading a block of text. (And actually- that text on the first page doesn't say the Barcelona medal was a team medal either; or that her World medals are all team medals.)

If they aren't giving an extensive bio- there is no need to mention the event.

Or sometimes they are just announced as "Olympic Gold Medalist" with no further qualifier if the discussion is not about the event.

Click to expand...

I should clarify, I'm fine with the media casually calling Gracie or whomever an Olympic medalist without mentioning the team aspect, but the official record will still specify that it was a team medal. And that obviously applies to swimming or whatever as well. So true followers of the sport certainly know that it's not the same thing.

During Worlds, where there was no team event, it bothered me to refer to any of the TE/not individual event skaters as medalists without qualifying that their medal was in TE. It just sounds disingenuous (although technically true) to announce Wagner (who I like) simply as an Olympic medalist as she's about to take ice in a singles event. The medal was for something different than what we're about to watch, and needs more context, IMO.

Check out this bio:https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/archivedbios/s/kstrug.pdf
Kerri Strug has no individual Olympic medal. The expansive bio mentions the team events, but the awards listed don't qualify it at all; and alot of people are not going to bother reading a block of text. (And actually- that text doesn't say the Barcelona medal was a team medal either.)

If they aren't giving an extensive bio- there is no need to mention the event.

How many times does the Olympics need to have a team event before it is unnecessary to qualify it in figure skating?

Even if gymnastics has had one for decades, when you hear someone is an Olympic Gold medalist in gymnast - do you assume it is team? It is still a seperate event, why does it not matter which one it is? Why does it not need further qualification if skating does? What about a gymnast who is gold medalist in bars; can she call herself Olympic Gold Medalist? Or does that lead one to believe she is the all-around winner?

A gold medal is a gold medal. Unless the situation needs context, there is no reason to always qualify what event it was won in.

How many times does the Olympics need to have a team event before it is unnecessary to qualify it in figure skating?

Click to expand...

Probably a few cycles at least, since Olympic figure skating has been around almost a century and has been only an individual sport up until now.

Even if gymnastics has had one for decades, when you hear someone is an Olympic Gold medalist in gymnast - do you assume it is team? It is still a seperate event, why does it not matter which one it is? Why does it not need further qualification if skating does? What about a gymnast who is gold medalist in bars; can she call herself Olympic Gold Medalist? Or does that lead one to believe she is the all-around winner?

A gold medal is a gold medal. Unless the situation needs context, there is no reason to always qualify what event it was won in.

Click to expand...

Anyone who actually cares about these sports does differentiate between individual and team medals, even in gymnastics and swimming, especially if they're comparing athletes. It's only in general instances like a quick bio or profile that it's not clarified.

I don't follow gymnastics at all and even I remember differentiating between the winners of the individual vs team events. Why? Because there's often a rivalry that's played up in the media and sometimes the rivalry comes from the same country (Shawn vs Nastia) even though they were both from the same team. Even casual watchers aren't that clueless...

In general, I always get the sense during the Olympics that nationalism comes even more into play during team events vs individual. There is a clear distinction in the viewer's mind for many reasons, one of which is that there's an entirely different dynamic when you're watching a team competition unfold (it's not based on the performance of just one athlete).

They are Olympic medalists. OGMs are often announced simply as OGMs, not OGM in the Pairs; Dance; Ladies; Mens event.
So why qualify it with team event? When Katia skates alone, is she always, every single time announced as "two-time OGM in the pairs event," to be sure no-one thinks she won the ladies event. I doubt it. I bet she is announced as two-time OGM.

They are Olympic medalists. OGMs are often announced simply as OGMs, not OGM in the Pairs; Dance; Ladies; Mens event.
So why qualify it with team event? When Katia skates alone, is she always, every single time announced as "two-time OGM in the pairs event," to be sure no-one thinks she won the ladies event. I doubt it. I bet she is announced as two-time OGM.

Click to expand...

Sure, in like an exhibition skate, but I'd argue that in almost every other context Sergei is almost always brought up. Even if she were giving some motivational speech and was introduced without any mention of Sergei, she would inevitably have to mention him herself.

When the 2008 Beijing Olympics were going on, I specifically remember Nastia getting the most fanfare when she won the individual all around. Despite the fact that Shawn also won gold for the balance beam.

Most general audiences remember Nastia as the gymnastics ladies' victor at that Olympics (and China as the team victor). They don't remember Nastia and Shawn as both being on the same level just because they both got a gold medal...

Sure some gold medals are worth more than others. However all are still a gold medal. Had Nastia won only silver in the AA (and someone other than Shawn won gold) and Shawn won the gold on beam, Shawn would probably still get more attention for her "gold" medal than Nastia's silver, despite the AA being more prestigious. With both having a gold, but one being the coveted all around, and one winning 5 medals to other's 4, it is obvious which was the victor of the games.

They ARE olympic medalists!! They competed in a sanctioned Olympic event and earned a bronze medal. Would they rather have earned an individual medal (like Charlie and Meryl)? Yes. Are they going to return their team bronze and delete it from their resumes? No!! And neither would I!! People should quit being so snobbish on here.